Train Rides
by Th.inked
Summary: Ginny is getting married in Venice and the only way for Hermione to go there is by taking the train. But somehow, Draco Malfoy —the man she hasn't seen for the four years — is sharing her compartment with her. But what happens when they both miss their train and get stuck in the middle of nowhere? Will they ever go back to Venice without killing each other? NEW SUMMARY
1. Prologue

Full Summary: Ginny Weasley is getting married in Venice and the only way for Hermione to go there is by taking a twenty-four-hour train ride. And somehow, Draco Malfoy- the person she has not seen for the past four years- is the person she has to share a compartment with. But what happens when they both miss their train? How will they ever go back to Venice without killing each other first?

Old Summary: Funny, wasn't it? How they were complete opposites of each other — their heritage, lives, everything. But they both enjoyed the little things in life like earl grey tea, the smell of new books and parchment. Somehow they got stuck next to eachother on a twenty four hour train ride. How funny indeed.

* * *

 **Train Rides**

* * *

 **Prologue**

One did not need to be a genius to figure out that Hermione Granger did not enjoy flying. Whether it was the latest broom or the most elaborate seat on an airplane, she detested flying. Maybe it was something about the wind slapping on her face, the air clogging her throat, and the site of the fragile little houses that seemed so far away that made flying a rather ghastly experience. Of course Harry and Ron thought she was absolutely peculiar but after being friends with her for almost 11 years, they had finally given up on making flying a pleasant experience.

Therefore, when Ginny Weasley (soon to be Potter) announced that she was getting married in Venice and Ron- her ex-boyfriend- was to fly her there, Hermione thought that the red head witch had gone completely mental. The awkwardness between Ron and her had simmered down, but its remnants were still present. Often, after exchanging a word or two, the two would settle into a heavy, stiff atmosphere. Ron was still sour about the breakup, but he had done too much damage to talk to her.

Ginny, a witch that came from a relatively poor family, was set on making her wedding elaborate, elegant . And what was more elegant than getting married in a city whose name itself conveyed poise and romance. Naturally, she had forgotten the fact that her entire family lived in Devon, England which was exactly 1137.7 miles from Venice.

Hermione had immediately ruled out driving for she had to pay for gas and she was positive she couldn't drive for 17 hours without any human company. Of course, the fact that she was not a good driver was also considered. Flying obviously was not an option. The only remaining choice was to take the train.

Yes, it took almost an entire day to get there but at least she would have someone to talk to. And that's how she found herself walking down a two feet wide passage way, one arm carrying a sweater and the other carrying a green luggage. She walked fast, a tiny bubble of excitement forming as she approached her cart.

She peeked inside, observing the tiny space with a pleased smile. There was a large window between the two seats, each of which were long enough to be used as beds. There was a flimsy barely-there curtain between the two seats for privacy and tiny wooden slabs attached to the wall to be used when eating.

She shifted in, hauling the bulk of a luggage with her. The smell of chocolates hit her and a smile tugged her lips as she recalled the Hogwarts Express. How she longed to be on that train again…

Sighing wistfully, she lifted it up to the seat and unzippered it. Her hands grazed the contents inside - underwear, jeans, a satin dress- before it finally rested on top of her blanket and old copy of Hogwarts: a History. Humming softly, she pulled them out, failing to notice the lacy black panties that had fallen softly on the floor.

"Wingardium Leviosa," she murmured quietly and grinned at it floated to the shelf on top of her seat.

"Never pegged you as someone who would wear lace and black."

She spun around, her eyes widening at the site. There stood Draco Malfoy, leaning against the door with his sodding smirk and an amusing glint in his eyes.

"Here, take your panties."

* * *

 _ **AN: Hey guys! This is my first attempt at writing a fanfic so please bear with me. I'm sure this is littered with errors. I'm trying to find a beta, but I'm noy sure how everything works here. Draco and Hermione are such iconic characters and I'm trying my best to not make it to OC. Please read and review! Thanks!**_


	2. Chapter 1

**Train Rides**

 **Chapter 1**

* * *

She blinked. She was not sure how long she had stared at him. Perhaps it was a mere minute or two, but later when she would look back at this event, she would duly note how long it had taken her to realize that Draco Malfoy was standing in front of her. She had not seen the git since the end of the war when Narcissa Malfoy came to thank her, dragging him along. Malfoy had given her a stiff nod - as if that made years of humiliation forgivable.

Of course, she had stumbled upon an article of two after that that detailed his lavish lifestyle. She rummaged through her brain, recalling bits and pieces of information she had read. He had rebuilt the Malfoy business, was the heir to the fortune and had a number of girlfriends. She never understood why girls dated him, the man had an ego the size of London and resembled an arctic ferret. Currently, he was engaged to Astoria Greengrass.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" He said haughtily, his face plastered with annoyance

He raised one pale brow before shoving her underwear on her left hand and stepping inside, closing the door of the compartment with a soft thud. He carried no luggage and propped himself on the seat opposite hers before looking at her.

His sudden movement broke her out of her trance and she regained her composure, straightening her back and pulled her wand out.

'What are you doing here Malfoy?" She pointed the wand at him, its tip heating up.

He smirked. "Gee Granger, is that any way to greet an old friend?"

"You and I," she began, the wand still pointed at his pale face. "Were never friends. Now, what are you doing here? Leave."

He glared at her, his smirk turning into an expression of irritation. Huffing, he crossed his sweater-clad arms across his chest.

"I thought you were the brightest witch of our age Granger," he replied sarcastically. "Figure it out. In the mean time, I'm going to make myself comfortable."

Her eyes flashed. Sodding git decides to barge into her compartment and questions her intelligence. The nerve! She stood there, digesting his words until she stumbled upon the horrible conclusion.

"No," she exclaimed, her eyes dilating and one hand clamped over her mouth.

"Oh yes," Malfoy replied, a grin etched across his face and he pointed to her seat. "Welcome aboard Granger."

Merlin help her.

* * *

Ron Weasley was angry. No, he was livid.

He had been standing in front of her goddamn porch for the past two hours with his brand new Nimbus 5000. He had knocked on front door for Merlin knows how long yet, he received no response. Nothing. Either Hermione was still angry with him (and she had no reason to be!) or she wasn't present.

He had settled on the third stair leading up to the house, twirling his chestnut wood wand using his fingers. He had gotten frequent looks from muggles as they stared at his broom. He hated that she lived in a muggle town. Why live in a muggle town where he couldn't perform magic when he could live luxuriously in a magical town? Of course, when he proposed the idea to Hermione, she had thought that he was irrational.

 _"Ron" she had said. "I like living here. I've ignored my muggle heritage since I was 11. It's like discovering something new, don't you agree?"_

He didn't agree. He didn't understand the hype about living in muggle society. Muggles made him feel dense, foolish with their persistent stares and irritated looks. It was not his fault he did not know what a plumber was or how a laptop worked. He didn't need those things because he had magic.

Hermione had never listened to him even when they were together. If he was east, she was west. She lived in a world of her own that only consisted of ancient books. But, as much as they were different, he had a reputation to maintain. If word gets out about his...activities, he would lose the prestige and pride he had meticulously built since the end of the war. No, no one could find out that he had been dumped, by his bookworm, boring girlfriend.

He intended to get her back, no matter how long he had to wait.

The murmur of rain hitting the roof brought him out of his chain of thought. It had landed on his new, fur shoes that he had bought for 300 galleons. He stood up briskly, sheltering himself under the roof. How much longer he would have to wait, he did not know. She had changed the wards so he could no longer enter, the floo was blocked and there were no apparition points within a 15-mile radius. Of course, she had fashioned one in their bedroom, but he couldn't enter the house. Pigfarts, his snow owl, was back at home. The last resort was to call Ginny using one of those shelly phones Hermione had gifted him.

He did not know why he had brought it along with him. There was a small hope in his heart that she would be pleased when she saw it. He did not even know how to work the damn thing. Cursing, he pulled the object out and pressed the large button in the front.

"Okay," Ron whispered to himself. "What had she said again? Press contact and go down with your thumb. Okay..contacts..contacts..here it is! Now scroll down. How do I do that? There's no other buttons..um..yes! She said to press my thumb against the screen and bring it down... I see her name."

He pressed on the green button next to her name, waiting for her voice to respond. A ringing sound flooded his ears for a minute before a monotone voice responded.

"The following number is no longer in service. Thank you."

"No, no!" he yelled,his voice dripping with aggravation. "I will not thank you! Blast this damn thing...Stupid muggles and their stupid inventions. I have to call Ginny."

His sister picked up after the fifth ring, her high pitched voice greeting him with a simple "Hello."

"Do you know where she is?" he growled loudly, pacing back and forth.

Ginny sighed and he could imagine her rolling her eyes. "Hello to you too Ron. Yes, I know where she is."

"Will you care to tell me, your highness?" he replied sarcastically.

She huffed. "I don't care what your problem is Ron, but I don't need the attitude right now, okay? She took a train to come here."

"A..a train? Merlin, that takes at least 24 hours."

"I know," she replied. "But she'd rather be on a 24-hour journey than spend 6 hours with you."

"Ginny, why didn't you tell me earlier? I've been waiting here for 2 fucking hours."

"Brother dear, this is the least thing you earn. Hermione and I may have conflicting views, but she did not deserve what you did to her -"

"This is my pers-"

"No, you don't get to interrupt me. What you did to her, especially on your anniversary, is not justifiable. You're lucky mom doesn't know about this. Don't bother trying to leave, I told her to charm the area so you couldn't leave for at least 6 hours. Enjoy yourself."

The line went dead as he groaned and slammed his hand against the door.

* * *

Ginny Weasley sighed as she disconnected the phone. Her brother's ego and pride had slowly inflated since the end of the war, its height reaching when he had secured his job at the Chudley Cannons. She had tried desperately to talk some sense into him when Hermione had complained about his rather recent behavior. But, the red-headed member of the Weasley clan was not known for his patience and understanding. Ever the stubborn person, he had shooed her off claiming she had no right to talk on his personal matter.

"Gin, are you okay? Who were you talking to?"

Her fiance's voice brought her out of her anger. She turned around, placing her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

"I was talking to Ron, Harry. I don't know what's going on with him lately. I-"

"I tried speaking with him," Harry Potter interrupted. "But, I dunno, something's going on in that head of his and he won't tell me what."

"Oh Harry, I'm so worried about him especially after what happened with Hermione. The poor girl was devastated but he won't even apologize."

Harry looked at his soon-to-be-wife and rubbed her swollen stomach. "Gin, it's not good for you to worry right now with the wedding planning and everything. I'll talk to Hermione and Ron. Just focus on the wedding."

He placed a tender kiss on her forehead, tasting the strawberry and honey moisturizer she uses. Ginny smiled contently, one hand placed on his heart and the other on her belly.

* * *

He was staring at her. She could feel his silver orbs creating holes in her forehead. Only one hour had passed and the sudden rain certainly wasn't making the train ride faster. She diverted her eyes from the book and quickly peeked at him. Her nagging suspicion was right, he had been staring at her and quite intently.

She shut the book with a loud thud, alerting him.

"Alright Malfoy," she said, her voice heavy with exasperation. "Quit staring at me."

The blonde offered her a lazy smile before sitting straight. "You flatter yourself, Granger," he replied, clearly amused. "Why would I stare at you?"

She crossed her arms over her chest and breathed out loudly. "Look, if we are going to spend the next 24 hours together, we have to have certain rules. Firs-"

"Who said I was going to listen to your nonsensical rules?" He replied.

She mentally slapped herself. Why had she expected the git to change? They may have graduated four years ago but, he was still the ever irritating, impolite person he was back at Hogwarts. She hadn't seen him in years and suddenly out of the blue, she had to share her compartment with him. The gods worked in mysterious ways.

 _Calm yourself, Hermione,_ she told herself. _One of you has to be the adult and it's not going to be Malfoy._

"Because Malfoy," she replied, her voice cool and composed. "We are going to be here for the next 24 hours and if you want to walk out of this compartment with certain body parts intact and unharmed, you have to obey some rules."

Malfoy raised a pale brow, unaffected by her threat. "Go on, Granger. But if you have rules, I'm going to have a couple of mine as well."

"Very well then," she said. "First, do not call me mudblood. If I hear you utter that terrible word, I'll hex you to oblivion. Understand, you foul-"

"Loathsome cockroach," he finished casually. "You ought to come up with better insults Granger. Don't worry, I haven't said that word since Hogwarts. Rule two, you are not allowed to insult me, understand?"

"And you shall do the same," she replied loftily. "Rule three, you are not allowed to make fun of Harry or Ro-"

"No," he answered. "That's a deal breaker. At least let me make fun of Weasley."

She thought about it for a second. "Fine, only Ronald. Keep it at a minimum."

"I sense trouble in paradise," Malfoy muttered. "What's wrong, Weasley finally realize-"

She pursed her lips and her eyes flashed. "Rule four, do not bring up my love life with Ron and I'll do the same."

He shrugged. "I could care less about you knowing my dating history."

"Alright then Malfoy," she said, pleased that they had reached some sort of agreement. "Obey these rules and our journey will go on smoothly."

"I told you to say the rules," he grinned cheekily at her. "I didn't say anything about obeying them."

"Malfoy!"

"Fine, fine. You're no fun, Granger."

* * *

AN: Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading. I looked back at the prologue and noticed how many mistakes I had made (I wrote black lacy bra instead of panty at some point). Those errors aside, I want to thank everyone who is following this story. You have no idea how much it means to me. I'll get the next chapter up later this week.

 **Aiko Tainaka: Thanks so much for reviewing and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I made this chapter around 2,300 words so I hope you like it! 3**

 **AWallofWords: I'm so glad you love it so far. I made Ron a jerk in this story because I don't know, I have a thing with** jerk-y **Ron. It's so satisfying to hear that I'm portraying Draco and Hermione correctly. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**


	3. Chapter 2

**Train Rides**

 **Chapter** **2**

* * *

 _She was walking in a meadow, her feet landing softly on the emerald green grass that was_ _dotted with dandelions and daisies. The twigs and daisies scraping against her foot reminded her that she was barefoot. She took slow, lazy steps and she was not aware where she was heading. Perhaps it was towards the setting sun or the edge of the meadow . She could feel the wind against her face, sweeping away her hair as the dandelions slowly took off in the wind._

 _Her vision was blurry but, she could see the silhouette of two figures near the edge of the cliff. Her pace quickened until she was running. The stems and barks of trees were scratching her skin. But she did not care. She had to find out who those two figures were._

 _As the distance between them closed, her vision cleared. One of them had fiery red hair and the other had jet black hair. The male, she assumed from his rather short hair, had a lightening shaped scar. "Harry," she breathed out, as she approached her raven haired friend._

 _He offered her a kind smile and she felt compelled to smile back. If she weren't distraught, she would have noticed the scenery. There were looming dark clouds that were surrounding them. But she was too tired, drained of energy to notice the background. Instead, she focused her attention on the figures. As she walked closer, she realized it was Harry who was standing there._

 _"Harry," she said again. "Harry."_

 _His eyes twinkled and he placed a hand over the other figure's swollen stomach. She diverted her eyes until they rested on the other person. She recognized her immediately. Ginny was staring at her with her warm blue eyes that shone with happiness. There was a light that shone from them, a light that she wanted. It surrounded them like a halo and they looked like they were straight of a renaissance painting._

 _"Well hello there Hermione," Ginny's voice was breathy and high._

 _The red head sighed contently and placed another hand on top of the swollen stomach and suddenly she understood. She felt glee wash over her and she reached over to touch them. But in a mere second, the couple dissolved into a mass of dust in front of her. She rubbed her eyes and when she opened them, there stood Ron. He seemed so far away even as she ran towards him. When she finally stopped, the distance between them had still remained the same._

 _"Ron," she yelled against the wind. "Ron, have you heard?"_

 _"That Ginny is pregnant," the red head muttered back annoyedly._

 _But she didn't mind. He was always like that. "I think that's a wonderf-"_

 _"A terrible idea is what it is," he remarked. "I don't want to have any kids."_

 _"Why? Ron I think we should talk about this."_

 _"I don't want to."_

 _"Ron, I want-"_

 _He looked at her, his eyes flashing dangerously and he raised his hand and she quickly flinched away. And then the dark clouds that had been gathering in the distance surrounded her as it rained ominously, blanketing her. The joy that had built up in her heart washed out. She felt water leaking out of her eyes._

 _"Granger!"_

 _What?_

 _"Granger?!"_

 _Why was she shaking?_

 _"GRANGER!"_

* * *

"Merlin," Draco Malfoy said to her when she woke up. "You sleep funny."

Her eyes cleared and she saw the blonde staring at her quizzically. She stretched her arms and cringed at the "pop" that resulted when she did so. It was dusk but the raining had not stopped. A heavy drizzle hummed in the background. Her book lay flat on the floor and her blanket was bunched up near the edge of the seat.

"You sleep funny," he said again as she picked up _Hogwarts: A History._

"How so?"

"Your mouth opens slightly," he answered back. "And you don't breathe through your nose and -"

"Whoah there Malfoy," Hermione replied, her eyebrows raised as she opened the book. "You stared at me when I was asleep? I always knew you were odd but you're reaching a new level of creepiness Malfoy."

He shot her an annoyed glare. "I wasn't staring. I merely glanced."

"Sure whatever you say," she replied, her voice laced with amusement.

"I wasn't staring," he huffed back. "Why were you saying Weasley's name when you're asleep. Merlin, I hope you weren't having a wet dream about him."

The mention of Ron's name caused her to look up. When she and Ron had first broken up, she had had that same dream for the first couple of days. She had deduced it was an aftermath of the breakup. Yet why had she had that same dream again? It had been three months since they had broken up.

"Granger!"

She glanced at his face and he had an expression of aggravation plastered on his pale face. His eyes were questioning.

"Don't worry, I wasn't, " she replied quietly.

"I bet you were," he persisted. "The look-"

She shut the book loudly and breathed out loudly before giving him a cold stare. "Look, I don't understand why you're talking to me Malfoy. We haven't seen each other in years, you bullied me in school and here you are, attempting to talk to me."

"You give yourself too much credit Granger," he replied. "I wasn't-"

"Yes you were," she yelled. "Don't deny it. Now, leave me alone. If we're going to survive the next 20 hours or so, don't talk to me, don't look at me, don't think about me."

"Again Granger, you think too highly of yourself and it's not 20 hours. The conductor made an announcement when you were asleep. There's been a delay due to the rain so, expect an addition of 4 to 5 hours."

The gods truly hated her.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was not sure why he had taken a train. After the recent events with Astoria and his mother, he had decided that he needed a nice, long vacation away from his family. Why he had chosen Venice, he did not know. Perhaps it was because his best friend, Blaise, lived in Venice or maybe because wizarding community of Venice had the most elegant Italian cuisine and fine export. The reason was yet to be discovered but as he glanced the limp form of the girl sleeping in front of him, Venice seemed like heaven.

The last time he had seen Granger at the end of the war, when his mother had dragged him along with her to wish her well. When they had finally seen her, he had lost his voice. She was alive and standing in front of him and he had never felt more guilty. A black cloud had surrounded him, plunging him into a pool of regret as he watched red scratched spell out the word "mudblood" on her pale skin. Unable to respond, he had given her a stiff nod and hoped that she would forgive him.

He didn't like Granger though. Yes, he felt guilty about what his family had done to her and the fact that he stood by it all but he did not like her. The girl was annoying and had the sex appeal of a brick. As he looked at her, this older version of Granger was a mirror version of her younger self.

Her hair was still brown (a color that reminded him of poop) and so were her eyes. Although, her hair had tamed down quite a bit. She had gotten a couple of inches taller but he could easily tell that she was no more than 5'4''. She was skinny and frail and reminded him of the fifteen-year-old Hermione Granger from fourth year. She slept oddly too. Her mouth was parted and he could see her chest rising up and down. It was a pattern, really. Every two second her chest would go up and every two seconds it would go down.

"Ron," she muttered and stirred on her seat. "Wonderf.."

"Ron," she had said a bit louder this time.

 _Great_ , he thought. _The bookworm is having a wet dream about Weasley. Just my fucking luck._

"Ron, no," she yelled loudly.

He sighed and placed his arms around her before giving her a gentle push. "Granger."

She slapped her hand against his chest and he gave a hard push. "Granger?!"

Still no response. Merlin, the girl slept like a brick. He brought his lips close to her ear. "GRANGER!"

Her wide eyes blinked and he couldn't help but stare down at them. They weren't brown. It was more of an amber color with hints of yellow here and there. It reminded him of a clear pond in a forest.

"Merlin Granger," he breathed out as he inhaled her scent. "You sleep funny."

* * *

Ron Weasley sat on the cold stone slab that surrounded the cherry blossom tree. He watched as his very pregnant sister scurried about, yelling orders at petrified guests and complaining to their mum.

"We've got a week until the wedding," Ginny yelled throwing her arms up. "And not a single thing has been done."

He looked at the groom, who had been sitting next to him. The dark haired man was pulling the petals off a flower gently but he looked up as he realized that the redhead had been staring at him.

"What?" Harry's voice was annoyed.

"I," Ron responded. "How's it going,mate?"

He gave him a pointed look before dropping the petals on the ground. "I dunno Ron. I'm getting married in a week, my wife is pregnant and I'm sitting here instead of helping her because of pregnancy hormones. My best friend isn't here, tell me, how do you think I'm doing."

"Harry, man," Ron replied, not looking at his eyes. "Are you still angry at me?"

Harry's face softened slightly before he put up a blank mask on his face. "No, no I'm not."

"Yes, you are," the redhead replied, jumping up on his feet. "Look, whatever happened between Hermione and me-"

"Is between you and Hermione," Harry finished for him. "Merlin, don't get me involved in this. You can't make me choose between my two best friends."

"I'm not asking you to. But here me out man. Hermione, she was never there for me. Sometimes..sometimes she would give me these looks as if she was pitying me or mocking me for not being intelligent enough. She listened to me, yes, but she never talked to me. I would go on for hours and hours at a time and she would respond with that's nice or very good."

"Because all you talked about was quidditch Ron," his best friend muttered. "Or you talked about things you did. Did you ever ask her about what she did? What she liked?."

"But that doesn't matter, Harry," he replied cooly. "She's been my friend since first year. She ought to understand or even like quidditch by now. Yet she would buy me expensive gifts like the autographed Chudley Cannons shirt and rub the fact that she earns more money than me."

"Ron, I don't think it was her intention," Harry said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "She did it because she loved you. She may have hated quidditch and flying but she listened to you talk about it because she loved you."

"She would dress worse than mum," he continued, ignoring Harry's hand on his shoulder. "When I told her to dress up every once in a while, she would respond by saying that those fancy clothes were uncomfortable. Imagine doing it with someone who dressed worse than your mum."

"Enough is enough," Harry said loudly, dropping the hand on his shoulder and quickly stood up. "I've listened to you say disgusting things about someone who is the closest person I had to a sister. Merlin Ron, she's my family. I don't care what she dressed like or what she said but you had no right to hit her especially after she caught you cheating on her with her coworker."

"But I-"

"No, let me finish. Ron listen to me, I don't want my best friends fighting. But I don't think she can forgive you for assaulting her. You've been nothing but a dick towards her. Did you even apologize to her?"

"No, but she-"

Harry gave him a sad stare, the kind Hermione used to give him and he felt his blood boil.

"You know Ron, you talk about all these things she didn't do or things she said. Did you ever ask yourself things you may have done wrong? Did you ever ask what she wanted?"

The red head did not respond.

"Exactly."

* * *

Malfoy had been gone for a while. He had not said a single word after her little speech. An hour or so later, he had simply gotten up and left. Not that she was worried or anything but he had been gone for almost two hours. In those two hours, the train had not moved a single inch. The conductor had announced that due to the recent weather, there were major delays.

She checked her watch again. Yup, exactly two hours had passed since he left.

Suddenly, the air in the compartment seemed too heavy, too suffocating. She stood up and opened the door of the compartment, inhaling the scent of muggle air freshener that hit her instantly. She let her feet carry her away from the compartment.

"I'm just going to go and tell him to come back," she said to herself as she took slow, calculated steps.

 _Why do you care anyway? Aren't you glad that he's gone?_

"Yes, but I'm a decent human. What if he's in danger?"

 _Why? He's been rude to you all these years and now you want to help him?_

"Shut up!"

She realized she had said that quite loudly. There was a man of old age standing near one of the compartments near the exit who cocked an eyebrow at her and looked at her weirdly. She offered him a weak smile, not attempting to explain why she was suddenly talking to herself.

Sighing, she finally came to a stop and stood in front of the exit door. There was a small square window that admitted light into the hallway. She glanced outside and noticed a pale blond figure walking in the distance.

She opened the door.

"Malfoy," she yelled.

The figure walked away from her slowly becoming a dark spot on the horizon. She squinted.

"Malfoy."

He did not hear her. She glanced at him and then her compartment at the other end of the hallway before jumping off the train and running towards Malfoy.

* * *

 **AN: Hey guys! How is it going? I'm posting this chapter so late because I've been having quite some trouble with this website . It won't let me upload pics, change the cover, and the doc manager was not saving any of the writing. Those issues have since been resolved. I decided to take this fanfic in a different way than I had initially planned. 24 hours suddenly seems too little time to make them fall in love so I've done something to expand that time. I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review! Those who review will get a cookie ^.^**

 **Aiko: I'm go glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I hope this one pleases you as well. Thanks so much for reviewing and don't forget to tell me what you thought about this one as well.**

 **Shardoozle: I'm so glad you enjoy Ron bashing. Ron bashing is secretly my way to blow off steam and express my anger towards the Ron/Hermione pairing in the books. I hope you like this chapter. Although there will be little train scenes in the future, Draco and Hermione will be spending a lot of time with each other. Please review and tell me if you enjoyed this chapter or not.**

 **Please r &r. Until next time,**

 **~Elena**


	4. Chapter 3

_Obviously, all credit and ownership goes to J.K. Rowling._

 _AN: Hey everyone! This is the third chapter of Train Rides. To be honest, it was difficult to figure out the plot because I did not plan this out at all nor did I write a draft. I just..winged it. However, after I figured out the plot, writing this chapter was a blast. There are no snippets of Ron, Harry, or Ginny- this is purely Draco and Hermione. I plan on keeping this story around 10 to 15 chapters as the plot I decided I will work with is not that complex. There is no dramatic, terrible war going on and this fic was initially meant to be pure humor and romance._

 _Aside from that, I would like to wish everyone from the U.S. a very late Independence Day and happy Eid al-Fitr to any of my readers who are celebrating eid. Hope y'all had/have a blast. Anyway, please review- I love reading what you guys have to say and any suggestions you want to make. So don't forget to review._

 _Now, sit back, relax, ignore the grammatical errors and enjoy this chapter :)._

* * *

 **Train Rides**

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

"Malfoy," she screamed, feeling her lungs burn as it battled with the wind.

The blonde made no signs and kept moving away from the train. She took one glance at the train and ran, her feet carrying her toward him as fast as they could. The air hit her face painfully and she grimaced, focusing her eyes on the figure in front of her.

"Malfoy!" she bellowed once again.

He had heard her voice. He turned around quickly, his eyes widening at the curly haired brunette running towards him. His body compelled him to run towards her but he remained stationary, fixed on the spot. He could see the sun cast its rays on her hair, bringing about a spectrum of shades that were not present in regular light. There were hints of auburn, warm brown, gold and even blond. How could he have missed these colors?

Her hair swished gently against the nape of her neck, landing softly on her back as she stopped near him. She put her hands on her knees and peered her eyes upward, breathing in softly.

"Malfoy," she exclaimed, her ragged breaths dancing around his face. "Let's go. You're going to miss the train."

He simply stared at her, his silver eyes in taking the sight of her huffing. She stood up quickly and he was suddenly aware of the little space between them.

"Let's go. Look, I'm going to miss my train and so are you."

"Why do you care if I miss my train?" He found himself questioning, staring at the girl in front of him with interest. "I had planned to get off here."

She opened her mouth, closed it and then opened it again. "No, no you hadn't. In case you did not notice, this is not a regular stop. So quit your whining and let's go."

She gave him a look of irritation and desperation and he found himself compelled to yell back. But she was true, he had planned to get off the blasted train for a few minutes to walk around, stretch his legs. But those five minutes may have been an hour or two judging from the fact that the Hermione Granger came looking for him.

"Okay Granger," he breathed out, fascinated by the way the light shone off her hair and her mask of anger. "Let's go."

Later when he would look back upon this memory, he won't be able to explain why he had grabbed her hand and ran towards the train. The action had surprised both of them but it was not the time to discuss it. As they ran, he was instantly aware of how petite she was. The girl was fast but she struggled to keep up with him with her short legs.

They had come close to the train when the vehicle let out a great ring, its wheels slowly forward. He could hear Granger's sharp intake of breath and her mutterings of "no, no." He picked up his pace and the girl followed him, her heart thudding loud enough for him to hear.

"Hey, wait!" she screamed. "Wait!"

But the train made no indication that it was going to wait. Its wheels turned faster and faster as the distance between them increased. Granger gave his hand one hard tug and suddenly he was behind her, watching the train turn into a speck on the horizon.

Granger finally stopped running, her eyes wide and her cheeks rosy. He was not sure how long they had stood there, silently analyzing what had just happened. But after a while she turned around, shooting him a glare.

"This," she spoke, her eyes filled with anger. "This is all your fault."

He could feel the exasperation radiating off of her but he was angry too. Sure he would have still missed the train but being accused of _her_ missing the train made his blood boil. His nostrils flared and he pointed his wand at her.

"Look here, Granger," he yelled, not aware of the limited distance between them. "I did not tell you to get off the train and follow me. So quit this blame game you are playing."

She paid him no attention. Instead, her eyes lingered at his wand- her mouth forming an "o". She rubbed her temples muttering something along the lines of "shit" and "stupid". He looked at her quizzically, trying to decipher what she was talking about.

"I left my wand," she said after a minute or two.

He blinked, she stared.

"How can someone be so daft that they leave their own wand behind?" He replied finally, kicking the grass that was lining the train tracks. "Merlin Granger, you've had a wand since you were eleven and you still can't keep it with you?"

"I left it along with my luggage because I was looking for you," she shouted, walking towards him. "I left everything and I'm stuck here with you of all the people."

"Oi, don't think I'm all flattered to be here with you okay," he answered as he stepped closer to her. "I don't know who you think you are Granger but-"

"But what," she replied. "What? Are you going to threaten me, Malfoy? Hurt me? Make me pay? Huh?

She had poked his chest with her finger when she uttered the last word and suddenly, he was very aware of the distance between them. Her breath was minty and fresh, washing over him like a cool dip in a pond. But it was her scent that intoxicated him further. She smelled of new books and earl grey tea, his favourite. There was a hint of a flower in there somewhere but he couldn't place his finger on it.

"Great, you're ignoring me now," she huffed out, bringing him back to reality. "Look Malfoy, we are stranded in the middle of nowhere. You have a wand and I have my knowledge of the muggle world. If we put two and two together, then we can make to Venice in time.

His eyes were quizzical as he thought about what she said. She was right, no doubt. But, why be surrounded by the insufferable bookworm (who smelled strangely nice and happened to have the most fascinating hair he had ever seen) when he could just apparate or fly there?

"You can't apparate there," she replied as if she could read his mind. "I'm not exactly aware of where we are but we are not in Italy or England, France is my surest guess. So we can only apparate within France and we require special permission from the French ministry if we were to apparate to Venice but that would take too long."

"What about flying?" he shot back. There was no way in hell he would go to Venice with Hermione Granger.

"C'mon Malfoy," she responded. "Look at the weather, it's stormy and windy. How in the world are you going to fly to Venice?"

Again, she was correct. He took one look at her wide, pleading eyes and something stirred in his heart. He tore his eyes away from her and paced back and forth, planting his feet into the ground with each step.

"Malfoy, c'mon," she replied. "We both need each other. For all we know, we may be stuck in muggle France."

"Fine, fine. But if you're going to tag along, you have to listen to my rules. I have the wand. Understand?"

He could sense the protesting and could almost hear the words of anger spill out of her mouth. But she merely gave a long sigh and slumped her shoulders.

"Yes."

* * *

She did not know how long they had been walking but it felt like hours. Her feet were aching badly from trying to match up with Malfoy's wide steps. He had suggested that they stay at a motel at night before deciding what to do with their rather peculiar situation the day after. Though she hated to admit it, the bouncing ferret was right.

They had walked up a hill when they saw a small array of houses clustered next to one another. Her heart leapt and excitedly, she took Malfoy's hand and pointed to the blur of brown, grey, and beige in the distance. The blonde had sighed before looking at their intertwined fingers.

She was suddenly aware of their proximity but he held on to her fingers tightly and she hadn't bothered to loosen them. They trudged about till dusk until her legs finally gave up and she buckled down.

"I can't walk anymore," she said, wiggling her toes in the grass. "You go ahead and get us a room in a hotel. I'll wait here."

Malfoy gave her an annoyed glare before settling himself next to her. "I'm not leaving you here Granger. Besides, we've barely walked that much."

"Easy for you to say," she whispered. "You with your inhumanely large manly legs."

Malfoy let out a snort and she narrowed her eyes. "What was that? Me and my manly legs. Gee Granger, I thought I would never see the day where the HERMIONE GRANER would think that my legs were manly. I'm honoured."

"Shut it, Malfoy," Hermione replied before laying down, savoring the feel of fresh grass against her skin. "Can we stay here tonight? Please. We'll go to the town first thing in the morning."

"No, absolutely not. A Malfoy does not lay in the grass, let alone sleep outdoors. Let's go, Granger," he replied, yanking her up.

She cringed when she heard a pop and she edged sideways. Hermione closed her eyes and put her arms forward, waiting for the impact with the ground. But the sharp slap of pain she had been expecting never came. Instead, a strong pair of arms encircled her and pulled her close to its owner.

She peered her eyes open and saw Malfoy's face was a mere inches from her.

 _Really Hermione? Who else were you expecting?_ She questioned herself.

"Careful there, Granger," he said, his voice husky. "Next time, I won't be there to catch you."

The next couple of seconds were a blur as he took out a wand and pointed it at her. Her eyes widened. Surely, he wouldn't avada her for falling, would he? A pale blue light streamed from his wand and showered her. He took a step towards her before scooping her up in his arms.

"Weightless spell," he replied to her confused eyes. "So it would be easier to carry you."

"What are you doing?" She screeched, her face covered with confusion.

"Look, Granger," he muttered as he began walking. "Would you rather let me leave you here, near a forest surrounded by who-knows-what, alone? You can't walk, remember?"

"I can try."

"You're too slow,"

He took her silence as acceptance. After a minute or so, she winded one arm around his neck and the other clutched his shirt tightly, closing her eyes as the sound of his rhythmic heartbeat and steady steps lulled her to sleep.

He did not know what possessed him to carry her like that. He would have to investigate the reason later. But as he walked, Draco Malfoy felt suddenly at peace.

* * *

He had arrived in the village about an hour after Granger had fallen asleep. His feet were sore and his eyes were hazy. Occasionally, his stomach would let out a groan of protest as he had not eaten anything from last night. His eyes scanned the area. It was around 9 p.m. from what he could deduce that the shops were closed. He doubted they had a fancy, extravagant hotel he had been expecting but any room will do for now. He walked slowly, absorbing the many signs and suddenly grateful that his mum had forced him to learn French when he was younger.

His eyes scanned the area. It was around 9 p.m. from what he could deduce and shops were closed. He doubted they had a fancy, extravagant hotel he had been expecting but any room will do for now. He walked slowly, absorbing the many signs and suddenly grateful that his mum had forced him to learn French when he was younger.

It was a picturesque town, the kind one would see a photograph of in a wizarding postcard. There was a cluster of houses standing next to one another, each one painted a different shade of warm, earthy brown. The windows of such houses were decorated with different flowers, he could spot a group of roses and daisies among them. The streets were lit by lanterns that hung off posts, illuminating the stone pathway.

Oh yes, this was definitely a muggle town. No wizarding place would be illuminated by such difficult means, a simple Lumos Maxima would have lit the entire place without any effort. Somewhere in his mind, he was suddenly grateful he had decided to bring the girl sleeping in his arms, after all, he had no idea how things worked in the muggle world.

Speaking of the girl, she was nowhere near waking up. Her head settled comfortable on his chest and every so often, she would let out a sigh of content. Who knew Hermione Granger, out of all the people, would enjoy sleeping on him?

He smirked, a giddy feeling passing through him about the idea of Granger sleeping with him. Of course, not that he wanted to sleep with Granger.

 _No, I did not want to be anywhere near the girl_ , he convinced himself as he looked around.

 _You did not want to. You do know._

"Shut it," he grumbled. Where was that blasted motel? His eyes scanned the area once more before landing on a small wooden sign with the words 'Au Detour de Mont: Auberge' painted on it.

 _The detour to the mountain,_ he thought to himself. _How..muggle-like._

 _H_ e sighed. This will have to do, this was no time to complain. He walked quickly up down the street and up the stairs leading to the entry of the inn. As he stepped in, there was a slight twinkering, as if bells were chiming in the distance.

"Hello," Draco said. "Anyone here?"

He walked to the receptionist's desk and looked around. A man, about 70 years of age, was sleeping soundly on a rocking chair, snoring loudly. He was balding and possessed a great snowy white beard, reminding him of a mix between Dumbledore and Santa.

"Excusez moi" he asked politely, leaning over the desk that served as a barrier between the two.

The man stirred slightly, before shifting to the opposite side.

"Excusez moi," he asked loudly.

The old man nearly fell off the old, wooden rocking chair he was sleeping on and took a few moments to adjust his glasses. His eyes widdened as they landed on Draco who simply raised a pale brow.

"Pardonezz moi," he said, shuffling around. He picked up a large blue notebook which Draco could have sworn was a thousand years old and opened it to a fresh, yellowed page. "Vous souhaitez une chambre, oui?

 _That would be ideal, you fool._ "Oui, merci."

He watched the man jott down something excitedly before glancing at Granger, pushing his glasses to the bridge of his nose. "Cette fille, elle est vostre petite amie je suppose."

Draco's eyes widened. Girlfriend? Granger? Not in a million years. "Quelle? Non non. Elle est pas ma petite amie."

The old man's eyes dilated and his face was filled with anger. "Alors qu'est-ce que tu fais portant une juene fille cette tard dans la nuit? Si vous avez I'intention de faire quelque chose pour elle, je vais appeler la police moi-meme."

Blast it! Why were muggles so nosy? He might have not known a lot about the muggle world but he knew enough to know that the police were not good news. He glanced at the girl and sighed."Elle est ma femme."

He eyed him suspiciously before nudging the blue notebook towards him with a pen tucked in the pages. Draco picked the object up before neatly scrawling his name into the bleak page.

"La chambre est au bout du couloir. Profitez de votre nuit, Monsieur Malfoy."

Draco managed to give a tight smile before handing him 50 galleons from his pocket. The man's eyes wddened as he examined the round objects with wonder.

"Sont ces or?"

He didn't say anything. Instead, Draco walked towards the end of the hallway where a poorly lit room was waiting for him. He opened the door, his breath catching at the site.

Two people, one bed. He'd have to share a bed with Granger.

Wonderful.

* * *

French Translations:

Excusez moi= Excuse me.

Pardonezz moi= Pardon me.

Vous souhaitez une chambre, oui= You need a room, right.

Oui, merci= Yes, please.

Cette fille, elle est vostre petite amie je suppos= That girl, she's your girlfriend I assume.

Quelle? Non non. Elle est pas ma petite amie= What? No no. She is not my girlfriend.

Alors qu'est-ce que tu fais portant une juene fille cette tard dans la nuit? Si vous avez I'intention de faire quelque chose pour elle, je vais appeler la police moi-meme= Then what are you doing carrying a sleeping girl at night. I swear if you plan on doing anything to her, I will have to call the police.

Elle est ma femme= She's my wife.

La chambre est au bout du couloir. Profitez de votre nuit, Monsieur Malfoy = The room is at the end of the hallway, Mr. Malfoy.

Sont ces or= Are these real gold?

Please excuse my french as I am not a native speaker. I hope you enjoyed all of this. Don't forget to review!

~Elena


	5. Chapter 4

**Hey, everyone! I'm so sorry I haven't updated earlier. My life has been a little hectic for the past few days. But all the things that were keeping me busy have since passed so I can focus more on my writing. Here's chapter four of Train Rides. Please read and review.**

 **Response to Reviews** :

 ** _DuLce_ aMoRe** _ **(Mel):** Hey! I'm so glad you liked the last chapter and don't worry about your English, it's perfect. Thanks so much for reviewing and I hope you like this chapter. _

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXPAND (Guest):** Thank you so much! I plan on finishing it so don't forget to read and review! _

_**Shardoozle:** Hey! Thanks for reviewing. Honestly, I'm so glad you reviewed because I wanted to know if Draco and Hermione were falling in love too fast. I, too, like stories that show a build up to their romance so I'll definitely keep that in mind. I'm so glad you like where the story is heading (as I had some trouble figuring out the plot) and that you like their personalities. I still struggle with making them "believable"— that is, keeping their personalities as close to as they were in the books. Anyway, there will be more Ron bashing in this chapter so I hope you like it. Thanks so much! _

**Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed/ favorited/ followed. Those are the only things motivating me these days.**

* * *

 **Train Rides**

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

Dinners at the Weasley family were seldom loud and chattery _—_ filled with the complaints and the laughter of its members. But today was an exception. There was a pregnant pause that hung in the atmosphere that even a blind or a deaf person could notice. Of course, Ginny Weasley could not pinpoint the exact moment it had settled over the large dining table but she was aware of it as she consumed her dinner.

There was not a single sound aside from the occasional clinks and clanks that the silverware made every time it came into contact with the glass plates. She toyed with her broccoli, lazily moving the fork so she could avoid the offending green sprout.

"Ginevra Weasley," her mother's shrill voice cried, cutting through the silence. "How many times did I tell you to not play with your food? Eat the broccoli."

She huffed. "Mum," she replied as she set the fork next to her plate. "I've been eating nothing but broccoli for the last two weeks. I think I've had enough."

Her mother looked at her, an expression of disbelief set on her face. "I've been monitoring your levels and the broccoli..."

"Can go shove itself on its arse," she finished. "Look, mum, I don't want to eat these damn vegetables anymore. Don't you get that? I want the ice cream and the muggle fast food Hermione bought for me. I think I'll go crazy if I see one more broccoli."

The tense silence that had engulfed the room had condensed into a more uneasy pause. She should have known better than to bring Hermione up into this. Her mum already disliked the brunette enough, she did not need to add salt to the wound.

"Do not talk about her in front of me," her mother replied folding her arms across her chest. "She's done enough damage."

"How so, mother?" Ginny said, ignoring how Harry squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Tell me, why are you so annoyed with her?"

Molly gave her a hard stare but she was no longer the fifth year girl who was afraid of her mother. No, she was done listening to her mum's banters about Hermione.

"How can you say that?" Molly had said after a while. "Think about what she did to Ron!"

"What did she do to Ron? Merlin mum, she broke up with him and she had a very good reason to. Relationships don't work out mother and you need to understand that!"

She was breathing hard when she finished, her eyes flashing with anger.

"Do you know how much your brother did for her," she questioned, standing up. "Poor Ronny-"

"Did not do anything for crying out loud," Ginny answered shooting a glare at Ron, who sat pale-faced and refused to meet her eyes. "Hermione has a very good job at the ministry, did you forget mum? She can take care of herself."

"Think about what your brother had to sacrifice! He gave up so much!"

"What did he give up?" She asked both her mum and her brother, who was busy sending her daggers. "No mum, enlighten me."

Her question was met with silence as she watched her mum struggle to find answers.

"Exactly, next time you accuse her, think about it," she said, her shoulder slumping as she grabbed her fiance's hand. "Let's go, Harry."

They had almost gone up the staircase when she turned around, flipping her red hair over the shoulder.

"She paid for a part of the wedding because she knew Harry and I had to save money for our son. She helped to rent this place out so you guys wouldn't have to stay at a hotel. Think about that for a second mother, please."

And with that, she disappeared.

* * *

Draco Malfoy scratched the back of his neck nervously as he stared at the single bed in front of him. It was barely big enough to fit Granger, let alone him. Blast it, why hadn't he request a room with separate beds. He ought to get back now and ask if they had a room with two beds. Of course, that damn muggle would ask questions and pry into his life. Why couldn't muggles keep their nose out of other people's business?

He was a Malfoy and he did not sleep on the floor and Granger would put up a good fight. He should put her on the floor and hog the bed to himself but the tiny part of his heart that actually had a conscience refused to do so.

Bed or no bed.

Granger on the bed or on the floor.

Share a bed with Granger or not.

Whoah whoah whoah. He was not sharing a bed with Granger. Period. She can sleep on the floor for all he cared, all that mattered was that he slept on a comfortable bedsheet covered muggle bed. He carefully tucked in the part of his heart with a conscience and leant down to put her down.

The plan should have worked flawlessly, really. He had almost put her down on the brown hardwood floor when her eyes snapped open. Brown met Grey and he dropped her, wincing when he heard her head collide loudly with the floor.

"Shit, fuck," he said, leaning down as she rubbed her head. "Are you okay?"

"What the hell are you doing? Why were you leaning down?" She asked, still touching the sore spot. "Why am I on the floor?"

He gulped. Not that he was scared of Granger but the girl would surely have a fit if she realised his intention.

"I..uh," he muttered nervously.

She looked around, her eyes widening as she put two and two together. "Malfoy, you git! You were going to make me sleep on the floor, weren't you?"

"No!" He replied a little too quickly confirming her nagging suspicion. "I..uh..yes."

She stared at him, arching a brow and quickly getting up. "No way. No way at all, there is no way I'm sleeping on the floor."

"Why not?" He huffed back. "Naturally, I deserve to sleep on the bed with my enormous _—"_

 _"_ Ego and cold heart," she answered as she propped herself on the bed. "I'm not sleeping on the floor."

"Well I'm not sleeping on the floor either," he replied jumping onto the bed.

"Fine," she said briskly, grabbing the quilt laying on one corner of the bed and wrapping it around herself. "We're sharing then."

"Like hell we are," he muttered, giving the quilt one hard tug.

What he had not expected was Granger falling on the floor with a loud thud. He laid on the bed, expecting her shrill voice to slice through the tension any moment. But she stayed silent and he felt a dreadful feeling pass through him.

 _Malfoys do not feel guilty_ , his father's voice chided him.

"Well this one does," he replied a moment, scrambling in his feet and running to the opposite side of the bed where Granger fell.

Her eyes were closed and her breathing was even. The light was on (thank goodness because he did not know how to work these muggle contraptions) and it fell gently on a trail of red. The sinking feeling in his stomach doubled as he realised what is was.

"Granger," he said, his voice holding a gentleness that even surprised him. "Granger, I'm so sorry."

She lay still and for the second time in his life, he was scared. He had hurt her. Dammit, he had become just like his father. Just like him.

"Gotcha," Granger's voice rang out like a bell, pulling him out of his trance. She laughed as she clutched her stomach and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You should have seen your face Malfoy."

"What the fuck Granger!" He yelled, pulling the girl up. "I thought I hurt you. Do you know what I felt when I saw you?"

"No, I did not know," she replied and he was suddenly aware of their proximity. "No, tell me. How did you feel? Malfoy you barely hurt me. Why do you care if I'm hurt or not?"

He ignored her question as he picked up his finger and trailed it down the blood oozing from her forehead.

"I did hurt you," he whispered. "Merlin Granger, I made you bleed."

"S'okay," she answered. "I've gotten more severe cuts than this."

He dropped his head, recalling images of her writhing with pain in his living room as his aunt tortured her. The way her eyes flashed to him, full of desperation and hope. Mudblood. Mudblood. Mudblood. His family had scarred her for life and he added to it.

"I'm sorry, Granger," he said, his eyes drooping down before they finally met hers.

"Malfoy, it's fine," she assured him. "I'm fine really, it's a minor cut, it'll barely hurt me."

She gave him a smile, mesmerising him for a moment, before getting on the bed and wrapping the blanket around herself.

"Just because I forgive you," she said, stretching her arms and propping herself up against the wall. "Doesn't mean I sleep on the floor. Either you stay here on the bed with me or on the floor."

At the end, he had decided that sleeping with Granger was much better than sleeping with filthy muggle animals and insects on the floor. He gingerly unbuttoned his shirt, tugging off its sleeves before moving towards his pants.

"W-w-what are you doing?" The girl next to him asked, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. "Why are you taking off your clothes?"

He wiggled his eyebrows and smirked. He ought to have fun with her.

"I always sleep nude," he lied, his eyes settling on her rosy cheeks. "Why, do you have a problem with that?

"Yes!" She yelled covering her eyes with her dainty fingers. "Put your clothes back on. I don't want to see your horrendous... penis thingy."

"I'll have you know that my penis thingy has pleased many many girls in the past," he huffed back, taking off his pants and leaving his boxers on. "I can give you a personal tour if you'd like."

"Gross," she remarked, her eyes still closed. "Dream on. I swear Malfoy if you don't have pants on when I open my eyes, I'm going to hex you to oblivion."

"It's just a penis," he muttered back. "Dammit, are you too pure to say penis?"

She peeled her eyes open, a relief passing through her when she noticed that the blonde was not naked. Though he was close to it, the only thing that separated him from nudity were a pair of boxers. Her eyes travelled down to his chest that seemed chiselled by the Renaissance masters themselves. All smooth and pale like marble. She wanted to run her hands through them.

 _Whoah,_ she thought as her face heated. _Why are you staring at that ferret's chest?_

 _Because it's so good to look at._

 _Hermione,_ a voice warned. _This is Mal-ferret. Control yourself._

"If you're done ogling at my chest Granger," he said, his voice laced with amusement. "I'd like you to help me with something."

Her eyes narrowed. Help him? At what cost? Yes he was insanely good looking (don't judge, she was a female after all) but surely Malfoy would ask her to do some impossible task and if she failed (or refused), he would tease her until her ego was a size of a peanut.

"Don't look so perplexed," his voice silenced her thoughts. "Yes, I need your help. They don't call you the brightest witch for no reason."

"Careful there Malfoy," she remarked dryly as she sat up. "You're almost giving me a compliment."

His eyes narrowed and he leant back against the wall. "I want you to make food."

"What? Why me? I won't help you. Is it because I'm a female? Huh, I should've expected this from you. This..this derogatory action can only be-"

"Hold your horses," his annoyed voice interrupted her. "Let me rephrase this, dear Granger. I was never good at transfiguration so I cannot turn an inanimate object into food. But you were McGonagal's best student so I'm assuming you can transfigure any object into food. So Granger, before your feminist ideals murder me, will you please make food for me?

"Fine," she muttered, slightly embarrassed. "But I don't have a wand so I'll have to use yours. And I want something in return."

"I'll let you use my wand," he replied. "But no funny business, Granger. I mean it. And what could you possibly want from me?"

"Iwantyourshirt," she answered her face a shade of red that rivalled Ginny's hair.

"What? I didn't quite catch that."

"Fine, I want your shirt," she whisper-yelled. "I'm wearing these stupid skinny jeans and itchy shirt and they're really uncomfortable to sleep in so can you please lend me your shirt?"

He smirked as he picked up his crisp white shirt. "This sweaty old thing. You want this?"

He waved it around her.

"Well, do you have any other shirt?" She said annoyedly as she eyed the cloth dancing around her.

"As a matter of fact, I do," he said, reaching for his jeans and pulling out two miniature luggages. "Engorgio."

The luggages enlarged back to their regular size. Hermione's face reddened. Why didn't she think of that? She watched as he unzippered the first leather baggage, opening the top until he pulled out another crisp white t-shirt.

"Here," he said, throwing the fabric at her. "Wear that."

"You have two of the same shirt?" she asked as she picked it up.

"Yes," he huffed back as he shrunk the luggages to their previous size. "White looks good on me."

He threw the wand at her along with a tiny wooden box.

"Now, turn that into food."

She looked at the wand, staring at the wand. She could make a run for it, tie him to the chair and be at Venice in the next two or three days.

"Don't even think about it," his voice interrupted her thoughts. "I said no funny business. I've charmed the wand so that it responds to me and only me, not matter how far away it is."

She looked up, fluttered. "That's.. preposterous. I wasn't planning on leaving you here tied to a chairs. But why did you charm it? Who'd want your wand?"

"You, for one, need it right now and my ex-fiance," he responded, his face twisting into an expression of disgust. "Astoria tried to put a tracking device onto my wand so she can monitor my moves."

"Wow," Hermione said after a moment later. "Um..that's certainly a-"

"Very deranged move," he retorted back. "Merlin, I'm glad I got rid of her."

"You didn't kill her, did you?"

"Merlin, no no," he answered, his eyebrows shooting up. "I'm not some murderer Granger. We broke it off. Took some time to convince that bint to leave."

Hermione looked around uncomfortably, recalling the rules she had set in the train. The nosy, eavesdropping part of her wanted to ask questions about his relationship with Astoria. Of course, she didn't care if he dated and who he dated. She was just curious, that's all.

"Granger," he snapped. "Are you going to turn that into food or not."

"Um..yes, of course," she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, thinking of the most appealing food.

In a blink of an eye, a plate of muggle fries and chicken appeared in the place of the wooden block. She had meant to conjure a plate of endless sandwiches, she really did but muggle food was so much greasier, unhealthier, better.

"What the fuck is that?" Malfoy asked a moment later, glaring down at the plate.

"Well this is a modified form of the endless sandwiches spell," she replied. "But it supplies us with muggle food."

She finished the sentence with a squeak and she could feel Malfoy's glare boring down on her neck.

"Look, I thought of the most appealing food," she answered honestly. "Any food is better than no food."

Malfoy grumbled beside her and sat down. "I'm not eating that muggle filth."

"Are you hungry or are you not?"

Just then, his stomach let out a great rumble that rivaled the mating call of whales. He looked around sheepishly, refusing to meet her eyes and picked up a fat fry.

"How do I eat this?"

"Just take a bite."

He narrowed his eyes and held his breath before taking in a big chunk of it. In the years to come, he would never tell anyone that muggle fries were the most delicious food he had tasted in his entire life. He closed his eyes and let out a groan.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't have an orgasm just by eating fries, Malfoy," the girl next to him said before standing up and grabbing the shirt. "I'm going to go change. You better save some from me."

He pretended he didn't hear her. Merlin, this was the best food he had ever had. Once he got out of this whole situation, he was going to make Granger take him to a muggle restaurant to have some more. Whoah, why did he want to go to a muggle restaurant with Granger? Once he got to Venice, he'd make sure that Granger was out of his sight once and for all.

But the part of his heart with a conscience tugged painfully and anger erupted through him about the thought of never seeing her again. He did not know why. Must be those damned fries, she must have charmed them or something.


	6. Chapter 5

**Note: I figured its much easier to just put the "french" in italics. So, the italic-ated (is that even a word?) English portion is basically French.**

 **Oh and thanks so much to everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited.**

 **Ruselly Adita: Thanks so much! This chapter is on the shorter side as I am on vacation (in India) so its a bit hard to write and sight see at the same time. However, I hope you enjoy and don't forget to review.**

 **Some of you will notice that I have changed the summary of this fic. I feel like this summary gives a better understanding of the story instead of the other one. So, please don't be confused. Aside from that, I am on vacation so its hard to write. I literally wrote this chapter in the past one hour and so it's probably cluttered with errors. Sorry! However, the expect the next chapter next Sunday or Monday because I simply do not have enough time.**

 **Now that all that stuff is out of the way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Train Rides**

Chapter 5

* * *

To say that Hermione did not get a brink of sleep was an understatement. She had tossed and turned the entire night fighting with Malfoy for the damn quilt and the tiny bed. Of course, the ferret slept wonderfully, his snores filling the room like the sound of an out of tune orchestra. The blonde liked to hog the bed, forcing her to retreat all the way to edge until she had to cling to _his_ body for support. She had pushed and pulled his body but alas, her she was not known for her upper body strength. She had blushed as she tentatively put a palm on his chest, curling her fingers tightly around his shirt. She was waiting for the man to wake up and yell obscenities at.

Malfoy simply moved a few centimeters before bringing her closer to him. She gave up trying to get her side of the bed back after a while before settling herself in his arms. His scent filled her nose — mint, sandalwood, and a hint of lemon. Her cheeks turned a violent shade of red once she realized his scent was rather intoxicating.

It was perhaps at late dawn when the sunlight was streaming through the two large windows when she fell asleep, cushioned by Draco Malfoy's arms and one hand wrapped around his torso.

* * *

Draco Malfoy felt himself wake up when something hard collided with his ankle. He had been sleeping peacefully, surrounded by a surprisingly soft blanket in his arms. He peered his eyes open, darting them around until they fell on a pale foot on top of his ankle.

His eyes trailed the sinfully long legs until they fell on the girl's face. Hermione Granger slept open-mouthed, her hair covering every inch of the pillow and one hand lay slung over his chest. He stayed still for a moment, in taking the sight of her.

Never would he have guessed in a million years that he'd be sharing a bed with the golden girl. She looked deranged, really. Her hair was all over the place, she had a trail of drool leading down to her chin and her open mouth revealed hints of pearly white teeth.

He couldn't speak, his breath hitched. He had never seen anything more beautiful.

His eyes shot up immediately. Why was he calling her beautiful? She possessed looks that rivaled that of a troll's.

 _A very innocent, feisty, beautiful troll,_ a voice spoke on the back of his mind.

He rolled his eyes and ignored the voice as he stood up. But the nagging thoughts did not silence themselves, whispering more sinfully dirty thoughts about Granger in his ears.

"Shut up," he growled out, running a hand through his hair.

He turned on his heel, twisting his throbbing ankle on the quilt that lay on the floor. In a moment, he turned around and fell on the bed. On top of Hermione Granger to be precise. The girl's eyes snapped open immediately and for the second time, he found himself speechless.

"Malfoy," she whispered, breaking him out of his little trance. "Why do I keep waking up with you on top of me?"

 _Quick, say something seductive Draco. Make her speechless._

"Maybe I want to be on top of you," he said after a moment, his voice husky and deep.

 _Wonderful. That's bound to make her shut up._

Surprisingly, she let out a laugh — its sound ringing like bells in the air. He leant in, hypnotised by the way her eyes twinkled when she laughed. She put her hands on his shoulder, leaning in. What had occurred next, he did not know. One moment he was on top of Granger and the next moment, he was flipped on to his back with her sitting on top of him.

"What the fuck?" He said, his eyes dazed.

He saw the brunette lean in closely, her breasts touching his chest and her face an inch from his own. He felt himself lean in towards her

"Go brush your teeth Malfoy, your morning breath smells horrible."

With that she strutted off, leaving him to wonder about what just happened.

* * *

When Hermione walked out the room, Malfoy had already left the room. A dark blush stained her cheeks. Why had she done that? What possibly caused her to sit on top of Draco Malfoy and act like that? She shook her head. The moment he had uttered those words, _maybe I want to be on top of you_ — a surge of passion and confidence had flooded through her. Blast it, everything was going well and she just had to go and ruin it.

 _Admit it, you like him on top of you._

Her cheeks turned a violent shade of red. She smoothed down her shirt and walked past the door, pushing all thoughts of the incident (that's what she liked to call it) out of her mind.

Hermione strode down the hall towards the receptionist's desk. Where was Malfoy? They were supposed to talk about their whole problem today.

"Draco Malfoy," she said to the old man sitting down. "Do you know where he is?"

The man gave her a blank stare. "Je ne parle pas l'anglais." (I don't speak English."

She gave him a confused stare. "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"

"No englais," the man replied waving his hands around.

Of course, how could she forget it. They were in some damn small town in the middle of France. She did not speak a brink of French. Latin, yes she spoke it perfectly. Her Spanish was extremelt good. Italian, slight but she could manage. She even knew a bit of German. But French, no. No french.

Huffing, she tried again.

"Draco Malfoy," she said, pronouncing his name as if it were four separate words. "Blond, pale."

The man gave an instant look of recognition. "Ah, Draco Malfoy. L' homme étrange qui m'a donné l'or " .

She nodded, pretending to understand him. "Draco Malfoy," she tried again.

The man pointed towards the large doors behind him. "Garden."

She nodded. "Thanks."

She took hesitant steps towards the garden, her eyes scanning through the windows until they fell on a pale blonde head, surrounded by many other blonde heads as well. She narrowed her eyes at the bimbos around him, immediately developing a distaste towards them.

She took calm steps as she approached him, making a mental note to ask herself later on why she was so damn nervous.

"Malfoy," she greeted him.

"Granger," he replied in an equally monotone voice.

She eyed his hand that was draped over the other girl's shoulder. "We have to figure out how we're going back to Venice."

"Come on Granger, Venice Smenice" he drawled. "Have some fun."

She rolled her eyes and placed her weight on her other foot. "No, we seriously have to figure out how to go back. Let's go, Malfoy."

He rolled his eyes.

"Elle a un bâton dans le cul," Malfoy whispered in one bimbo's ear. (She has a stick up her arse).

The blonde girl stood there for a moment before breaking into peals of laughter.

"Dans..le..cul," the girl wheezed out, pointing at her.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. She had no idea what he meant but it was no doubt something vile and condescending. Fine, two could play this game. She could have fun too.

"Two could play this game, Malfoy," she whispered to herself.

"What?"

She plastered a fake smile on her face. "Nothing. I'll see you later."

She turned on her heel and walked towards a group of men she had seen earlier, leaving a worried Draco Malfoy behind.

* * *

Hermione walked towards the men nervously. _Be confident Hermione. Be confident._

But how can she confident when she didn't even speak the same language they spoke? Dammit, they were stuck in the middle of nowhere and what does his royal pain in the arse do? He goes and starts flirting with bimbos. She rolled her eyes. Typical Malfoy behavior. She should have never left that damn train.

She huffed, plastering a smile in her face as she approached the group.

"Excuse me," she asked . "Do any of you speak English?"

The men looked at her before one opened his mouth. "I do. What do you need help with, Miss?"

Hermione stared at him, dumbfounded. He was tall, almost as tall as Malfoy but not quite , and had brown hair and muddy green eyes. He smiled at her and she noticed the adorable dimples forming in his cheeks.

"Miss?"

"Oh yes, of course," she muttered, her cheeks turning pink. "I..um..I'm new here and I was wondering if you could show me arround."

"Yes, of course," the man nodded towards her. "My name is Louis. And yours would be?"

"Hermione," she answered. "My name is Hermione."

The man's, no, Louis' eyes twinkled. "Hermione, what a beautiful name. Daughter of Helen of Tory, right?"

"Yes," she answered.

"Why are you surprised?" He asked noticing the shock lingering in her tone.

"Not a lot of people know about Hermione," she answered shyly. "The daughter of Helen of Troy."

He smiled kindly at he and she felt her heart melt slightly, like warm chocolate.

"Well Hermione, what brings you to this town? Hardly anyone comes here," he questioned.

Hermione bit her lip. What was she going to tell him? That she missed her train to Venice because she was running after a prick known as Draco Malfoy. He would probably think that she was silly and absurd.

"I came here with my friends," she lied after a moment. "But nevermind him, he's being a git. Would you mind showing me around this town? It's quite lovely."

Louis looked at her quizzically for a moment. "Of course, let's go. Though, I do sense a lover's quarrel."

"Oh, no no no," she replied, her face slightly flush. "He and I..we..us... Mal..We're just friends. Let's go."

Louis simply nodded, a smirk forming in his lips before bowing down slightly. "The lady goes first."

She grinned, her eyes peeking at Malfoy from one corner. He was staring at her with a hard expression on his face.

Granger- 1

Malfoy- 0

* * *

Draco Malfoy glared at the brunette as she trudged along with the man. His little part of his heart with a conscience liked to call the feeling he felt "jealousy"; his sensible side told him that he should not care about her; and his Malfoy side that told him to stop thinking and feeling anything for her.

Not that he felt anything for her. That was bloody preposterous. Caring about that bushy haired know-it-all? Psh...

But of course, that damn nagging part with standards and morals kept poking into his thoughts.

 _Granger doesn't know a bit of French. What if that thick headed numbskull is going to take advantage of her?_

 _What if he tries to assault her?_

 _What if he hurts her?_

His vision was blurry and his heart was thudding hard. So, what if all those things did happen to Granger? He didn't care about her. Did he? He shook his head, trying to clear all thoughts about her. If he was in France, he might as well try to enjoy his time.

He looked him, settling his eyes on one of the blonde's surrounding him. What was her name again? Jackie? Jacqueline? Jaime? Whatever.

" _You look splendid_ " he lied as he picked up one very bleached blonde strand.

The girl giggled and he winced as the sound hit his ears.

 _"Thank you, Draco_ ," she responded, rolling out the 'o' in his name. _"My friend is having a party tonight. Pierre, that old bat who sits in the front, won't be here so we're celebrating. You can come, if you want."_

He grimaced as she trailed a finger down his chest. Yes, the girl was absolutely beautiful. Blonde hair, blue eyes, tall, big boobs. But he preferred brunettes.

 _Like a certain lady named Hermione Granger._

" _Yes, that will be perfect,"_ he answered, ignoring Bob — the name he picked out for the voice in the back of his head. " _Only if you're going there_."

"Draaco," the girl wheezed out. " _Oh, you flatter me_. _Of course, I'll go with you._ "

He scowled. " _Of course_."

* * *

"So, where did you go to school?" Louis asked after they came out of the little bakery. She had purchased three chocolate cupcakes; one for her, one for Louis, and one for Malfoy. That is if he apologized for being a git. An unlikely possibility, yes, but it never hurt to be nice. Even to a Malfoy.

"I went to boarding school," she answered as she unwrapped one cupcake and held up the box for Louis. He shook his head.

"Oh, that must have been nice," he said as they walked side by side.

"Nice," she scoffed as she recalled the events from the war. "It was anything but nice."

Louis chuckled softly beside her. "School seems to be a sore spot for you. I'm assuming you didn't like to study."

"No, no Merlin," she laughed out quickly. "I love studying and learning. Just, a lot of bad memories are associated with school."

"Merlin?" He questioned as Hermione's blood drained. Oh gods. How could she have let that slip?

"Y-Yes! Merlin," she exclaimed, her voice laced with fake amusement. "That was a slang back in my school."

Louis simply nodded before muttering something that suspiciously sounded like odd girl. She ignored him as she slowed in front of boutique.

Mind you, Hermione Granger was a girl who preferred smarts much more than looks. But she was a girl and like most girls, she liked to diverge in a shopping spree every once in a while. She sighed longingly at the pastel dresses, kicking herself mentally for leaving her money back in the train.

"Do you want to go in?" Louis asked.

"I can't," she replied softly. "I left my money behind."

The brown haired man rolled his eyes and pushed her towards the door. "Nonsense, I buy it for you."

"What? Louis I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking. I'm offering. Plus, the owner is a very, very close friend of mine. He'll give it to you for a discount if not for free once he hears that you're my friend."

Well, if the man was so hell bent on buying her a dress, she couldn't say no.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was scowling. The last time he had seen Granger was at least three or four hours ago. What if something had happened to her? Didn't the girl know what ran through the minds of men? He sighed, debating whether he should look for her or not.

But where would he look for her? This place, as small as it was, was a muggle town and he was a Malfoy, he didn't know shit about muggle things. Just as he was about to get up, the door opened and in walked the person he had gotten all worked up for.

"All right, I'll see you tonight," she laughed at whoever was opposite the door. "Bye."

She shut the door, her eyes lingering there before they fell on the seething blonde on the bed. "Malfoy."

"Where in the world were you?"

His voice was cool, calm, and unlike she had ever heard it before. Of course, she wasn't scared of Malfoy or anything but she had never seen him this angry.

"I was out," she answered as she placed the bags from the boutique and the bakery on the bed. "With Louis."

"Who the fuck is Louis?"

"The brown haired man you saw me with," she shot back. "Don't look so surprised, I saw you looking."

Malfoy growled and within a second he was in front of her. "Before you start whoring yourself around, Granger, I think you should consider the fact that we are stuck in the middle of nowhere and you are not doing anything to help."

Her eyes flashed dangerously and she gave him a hard push. "Excuse me? Whoring myself around? Who do you think you are? I wanted to help this morning but your royal pain in the arse told me to have fun. So that's what I'm doing. Having. Fun."

"Last time I checked, acting like a little slut was not having fun," he drawled. "But then again, your kind does tend to be-"

"Get. Out."

"What?"

"Get the fuck out of this room right now," her voice was collected but he could see the anger through it. "Or I'll scream bloody murder. I swear to god Malfoy."

He slumped his shoulders. "Fine."

He walked out the door, slamming it hard behind him.

This was it. He had done it. He had scared her off and he was the one who hurt her, not that Louis person she was talking to.

Fear spread through Draco's heart once he realised her messed up. Hard.

* * *

 **Please read and review. It will get me really motivated to write and maybe, the next chapter can get posted earlier than Sunday. Who knows?**


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